


Surefire plan

by Roseeater (eki_fuuten)



Series: What Eevees Saw [7]
Category: Pokemon GO
Genre: Syric - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-18 20:53:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20198002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eki_fuuten/pseuds/Roseeater
Summary: Summary: Ever after Noire's first mission Team Flare is terrified of them, so they design a surefire plan to kill them.Sure enough, there is fire.And then Noire finds themselves having to deal with a crisis without Amelie's support.[Note: final edit/clean-up pending]Featuring:Oh no they didn’tInstinct is underratedSmol murder machine(s)What is Spark, really





	Surefire plan

**Author's Note:**

  * For [surfacage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/surfacage/gifts).

> For Surfacage's And The World Will Turn To Ash.  
Folows fics: 'A Vulpix named Flashlight' and 'Pastries'

When Noire saw Amelie go down they let out a feral scream, their eyes flaming magenta. There was no Pokemon to compel, only their own and Amelie's, so they did the next best thing: they instantly shot two of the men they were fighting and turned their gun on people who had been fighting Amelie - though Amelie's Ninetales were already on the case, judging by at least one person being on fire.

Noire wasn't in the "fun fight" mode, nor they were anymore in a standard "serious mission" mode" - they have shifted straight into murder mode, and that meant one shot, one kill. It was a matter of seconds before they were the only standing person in the lobby. One man was kneeling, his hand heavily burned by Flashlight, when the Ninetales saw he was aiming at Amelie, his eyes wide with fear as Noire walked up to him, lifted his dropped gun from the ground and aimed at his head.

"You made one mistake." Noire said and pulled the trigger.

*****

"I don't like it!" Noire threw the folder away and put their feet up on their desk. "I don't like them."

Amelie looked up from her laptop; she was sitting on the couch, accompanied by Petit.

"You're not supposed to  _ like  _ them; you're supposed to  _ raid  _ them.

"Not  _ Flare _ ; the fifth squad. What's the point of a joint mission?"

"Well, you're the one Team Flare is terrified of so it makes sense to have you do the mission, and instead of doing a second mission with fifth it's more efficient to plan a single, strong attack."

"I know that; I just don't see the point of getting the fifth with us - we could handle it ourselves, don't you think?"

Surprisingly, Amelie didn't answer. Noire raised their head and looked at her.

"Amelie…?

"I... don't disagree but it has been planned and approved this way for weeks now. We just have to go through with it."

Noire sulked. Flashlight, Amelie's tiny vulpix, was frolicking around the room; Noire lured him onto their lap with a poffin fished out of their desk drawer. Flashlight was soft and warm under their touch and there was something soothing about his presence.

Noire didn't like the fifth squad. There was no particular reason for it, it was more of a feeling they gave off. The squad was composed of a large number of relatively new and supposedly extremely capable recruits. Supposedly. They hadn't had to work together before but they had a couple of trainings together, along with the seventh, in preparation for the mission, and while the trainings didn't go  _ too  _ bad Noire had half a mind to kick them out after half an hour. They had a vague feeling it'd be easier for them to work with the infuriating Valor leader than with the fifth squad.

Noire was great at strategy and in their mind the best strategy here was not working with the fifth squad at all.

***

"Amelie, I am NOT wearing a reinforced bulletproof vest to the mission!" Just the previous night Noire cried themselves to sleep thinking about Blanche, they also utterly hated having to do the mission with the fifth squad; Amelie telling them to be  _ reasonable  _ for once was just a cherry on top. "The regular mission set will do; I am not afraid of fucking Flare!"

"Well,  _ they  _ are terrified of  _ you _ , boss, and they have orders to shoot on sight. I wouldn't put it past them to use special ammunition"

"This is why you are going to wear one. I won't."

Amelie gave Noire a Stare with her healthy eye.

"i told you boss, either we both wear one or none of us does."

"This is a fucking insubordination!" Noire stomped. What was even the point of being an executive officer if people still kept telling you to do things? Sometimes they wondered, between Amelie and them, who was the real boss there.

"It's my job to keep you alive, Noire," There was something in Amelie's voice that made Noire hesitate. Amelie was never as keen as Noire on the missions - well, their enthusiasm was hard to match - but there was something about that particular one that seemed to rub both of them the wrong way. As much as Noire liked to kick Flare's ass, this time they'd rather have a run-in with Zapdos instead - even if those didn't necessarily end well for them.

"OK, I will wear the stupid vest!" Noire threw their executive coat off and took the vest from Amelie's hands. "But we're getting ice-cream after the mission."

The sooner this was over the better.

*

Noire couldn't help sulking almost all the way to the Flare building, but perked up when Spark send them a picture of Blanche fondly eating a muffin. It wasn't just any muffin - it was a muffin Noire made themselves and managed to sneak to Blanche, a type of muffin they both loved to make and eat as children.

Maybe the day wasn't meant to suck after all. Noire would lead the squads - even the goddamn fifth - quickly finish the mission and then they'd take Amelie for some ice-cream at that newly opened place that had flavors inspired on eevee evolution tree. Maybe, if Amelie agreed, they'd drop by Instinct headquarters and surprise Spark with evolved Flashlight - he seemed pretty fond of the little guy.

Maybe everything would turn out alright after all.

*

Something was wrong.

The plan was flawless, they went in through a side entrance and followed the planned path but stil, it went a bit  _ too _ smooth. They should have met someone from the Flare staff along the way, they shouldn't be able to get so deep inside without encountering  _ anyone _ .

Amelie gently touched Noire's arm.

'Noire…' She wasn't sure what to say but when Noire turned around it was obvious from their alert expression - they also noticed. Amelie turned off the microphone in her headset. 'You think they knew?'

Noire nodded. Amelie turned her microphone back on and reached for her pokeballs. Flare being ready for their attack wasn't a good enough reason to abort the mission when you had a human weapon at your side, but it meant additional firepower was recommended. 

Flashlight jumped out of the pokeball ready to fight. Amelie brushed his head with her fingers, made a gesture he knew meant to be alert and followed Noire. They reached one of the lobbies and this place , too, was abandoned.

"Boss, there's something odd here" said the voice of the leader of the fifth in the communicator. "Would you mind taking a look?"

Amelie and Noire exchanged glances, then Noire waved the other squads to slowly proceed out of the lobby while they went back to where most of the fifth squad was.

"What is it?" Noire asked and at that moment Amelie saw one of the members of the fifth squad aiming at the back of Noire's head. Amelie shot him first and realized he wasn’t the only one who aimed at Noire, because almost all of the fifth squad was aiming their guns at Noire - with the exception of the ones who were  _ aiming at Amelie _ . Amelie shouted Noire's name but Noire had already realised what was going on and just dodged a bullet that was supposed to blow their head open but only grazed their cheek.

The Whole fifth squad was suddenly against them, trying to kill both Amelie and Noire, and the fuckers were good, making the 11:2 ratio feel like it could almost be an even fight.

Almost.

The fifth didn't have their Pokemon out and it only now occurred to Amelie why: they could avoid Noire taking control of them. But it also meant that Noire's and Amelie's Pokemon were free to hold off the Flare agents who suddenly showed up at all the entrances trying to join the planned executions of Rocket Executives.

Amelie saw one of the traitors aiming at Flashlight, who was busy roasting the door, and another agent aiming unnoticed at Noire's back on the opposite side of the hall. Third agent was aiming at Amelie. There was no time to shout and no way to duck if she wanted to hit both targets.

Three shots went out simultaneously and Noire whirred around.

They saw three bodies fall and their heart stopped for a split second when they realized one of them was Amelie.

***

When Amelie opened her eye the world was full of pain and screaming. The pain was hers. The screaming wasn't. She looked at a vaguely familiar ceiling and the memory of her first mission with Noire surfaced; there was also pain and screaming then, and Noire desperately calling her name…

"AMELIE!"

The reality rearranged itself. Amelie remembered getting shot. The left side of her chest hurt badly. Quick glance sideways located the source of the screaming: a man writhing on the ground, his body on fire, his presence completely ignored by Noire, who was bending over Amelie with an extremely worried look on their face. The ceiling which Amelie recognised, along with the rest of the hall, was part of a Team Flare building which Team Rocket was raiding.

"I'm alive, Noire," Amelie croaked. She raised her hand to her chest and fingered the bullet lodged in the bulletproof vest. She wasn't sure if the bullet would have punctured her heart or lung but she sure was glad she insisted on the special vests for this mission. "How long was I out?"

"Less than two minutes."

“...fifth squad?"

"All down." Noire's face was uncharacteristically solemn. There was a cut on their cheek from which blood tricked down onto their own vest. Amelie looked to the side; the man who was screaming when she woke up now lay on the ground spasming and whimpering. There were bodies scattered on the floor, but apart from them there was no one else in the lobby.

" think I need another minute, if that's feasible."

Noire nodded and raised their hand to their headset, turning on the mic.

"Squads, status!"

"We got to the second checkpoint but we're blocked off," Amelie heard Mike in her own headset. "It's like they knew our plans!

"We had a mole; the mission's compromised. Can you hold on for another five minutes?"

Amelie took a slow, deep breath listening to the confirmation. The pain didn't feel like a broken rib and  _ hopefully _ there was no internal damage... but it was hard to be sure. Amelie braced herself for more pain and carefully sat up. She blinked away the black spots from her eye and looked around assessing the situation.

Out of three exits one was guarded by Noire's pokemon - the corridor behind it was filled with poison and parts of it were on fire. The second exit was blocked, the closed door partially melted from heat; there was a noise from the other side suggesting someone was trying to break through. The third exit was also on fire, guarded by the pair of Amelie's ninetales, Flashlight and Ember, who were ready to attack with flame anyone who tried to approach from the corridor. It wouldn't be long before Flare got a water pokemon to the scene, but the fact that they didn't prepare one was reassuring - it meant they didn't know about Flashlight, who evolved just a day before and who seemed to make up for his small size with an amazingly hot flame. Flashlight had already been intimidating during a fight as a vulpix; now that he evolved he was a serious threat.

Which probably was the reason for the impressive amount of fire damage the hall got in the past few minutes.

Noire offered their hand and helped Amelie get up. Noire was tense, cold fury burning inside and making their eyes glow purple, aching to find someone they could release it on. Amelie looked at the corpses of the fifth squad strewn on the floor. She really couldn't blame Noire for feeling the way they did.

*

Flare thought that the best way to stop the Best of Orre was to clear out all Pokemon. The theory went: Noire wouldn't be able to take control of Pokemon if there is none around. If they deployed armed forces, equipped with gas mask to protect against the poison of Noire's own pokemon, then along with their team of moles they should be able to take Noire and their squads down.

This would have been a good tactic if it wasn't missing two important facts: Noire was armed with a gun and knew how to use it well.

Also, Noire was armed with Amelie.

People thought Amelie was a pretty face - and that was true. Many people thought that Amelie was  _ only  _ a pretty face - and that was as wrong as you could get. Amelie was a pretty face, brilliant mind, fight-trained body, four guns, eight blades, garotte, five kinds of explosives and two live flamethrowers. Moreover one of the flamethrowers had, whether because he was first brought up by Spark or because he had spent so much time with Noire on the missions, no qualms about hurting a human who threatened Amelie. 

Neither had any of Noire's Pokemon.

They went through Flare's building like Moltres' flame through butter, especially that hearing the two just took down a whole team of assassins made some of the Flare agents simply run away.

Team Flare had missed their one chance to take out Noire.

Now Noire was taking Team Flare down.

*

The fifth squad hadn't had the exact information on the vans' hiding place apart from their own - Noire had insisted on it, not wanting Lief to be stuck with them - so the getaway vans were safe and ready for Noire and their squads when they left the burning building. About ten seconds after the last of the vans took off the building was torn apart by a series of explosions. Amelie had been equipped with a good amount of explosives and the matter felt too personal not to use them all.

As they got further away from the Flare building Amelie felt her adrenaline levels fall, replaced by the pain and fatigue. It finally hit her what exactly had happened. After working with Noire for years she wasn't a stranger to near-death situations. She wasn't a stranger to betrayal. But this? This was beyond everything, when she'd spend weeks trying to convince Noire to cooperate with fifth, when she'd asked for thorough background checks _twice_, as neither Noire nor Flashlight seemed to trust the squad… It was Amelie's job to keep Noire in Rocket but it was Rocket's job to keep the threat out of at least their own ranks and yet _a whole squad_...

"Amelie! Are you OK?" Amelie realised she was shaking; Noire has gotten up from their seat and was leaning over her, holding her arms with a worried expression. No, this was wrong, it was supposed to be  _ the other way round _ . Amelie tried to calm down her breath, which somehow got too fast and too deep; she felt her head swim a bit from too much oxygen. "Amelie, hold on, we'll be back in a moment. Fuck, should have gotten a medevac for you…"

"I'm  _ fine _ , Noire," Amelie lied. She might have accidentally done her job, though: Noire was definitely more worried about her now than they had been upset about the whole situation when they were entering the van. Amelie felt a wet touch on her hand; Flashlight, who refused to go back to his pokeball, was nosing and licking her, making worried sounds. "We're all fine. Everything is fine."

She hadn't broken down while working with Noire yet and she sure wasn't planning to start now.

*

"Executive assistant injured, two members of first squad lightly injured, the whole seventh squad injured, whole fifth squad dead, a few pokemon injured but not severely, no-one arrested... " Sabrina stopped looking at her monitor and sat back in her chair. She didn't need to debrief Noire personally, it wasn't really her responsibility, but she was worried, so when Syric conceded she can borrow Noire and their assistant for a few minutes she instantly told her own assistant to clear her schedule for the next hour. "In different circumstances that mission would have been considered a near failure." Sabrina surveyed Noire sitting behind her desk. There seemed to be no traces of Noire using their power. Her eyes moved to Amelie, who was quite pale, rumpled and still partially covered in soot. "But given that the circumstances involved a plot to kill you both and all the casualties were actually traitors I would put that down as a success. I would have loved to have at least one of them alive for more interrogation, though."

"We weren't in a position where we could take prisoners, boss." Amelie's voice was tired but she was sitting to attention, even though it was obvious she was making an effort.

"Yes, I guess you weren't. I see you did manage to procure the most interesting items Team Flare stored in that building, though."

"That was Amelie's idea, since we wouldn't be attacking them there again."

"Because you burned the place down?" Sabrina's eyebrow went up. "Was that also your idea, agent, or do we have the executive to thank for that?"

"That…" Amelie seemed to hesitate, quite uncharacteristic for her, but not surprising given her mind was definitely still reeling with aftermath of the shock.

"It was both of us," Noire interrupted. "Flare wanted a fight to the death. They got it."

Sabrina kept her expression stern but for a split second a shadow of a smile appeared in the corner of her lips.

"Well, it definitely does send a message. I don't think Flare will try anything like that again. Either way we need to conduct a full investigation and review our screening process." Sabrina leaned forward and checked her screen again; Team Rocket definitely needed more psychics if things like this could happen. "Medical noted you should take a few days off; all your meetings this week will be cancelled."

"I'll get right on"'

"You misunderstand me agent," Sabrina interrupted Amelie. "I meant both of you. My assistant will take care of everything and you're not supposed to show your face here until next Monday, apart from your scheduled medical check-ups. I want you both  _ away  _ until we find the mole. Is that clear?"

"Yes boss." Sabrina noted the sheer relief coming off Amelie, who clearly understood the message. It was better for Noire not to stay at the headquarters, both for their safety and to prevent them trying to conduct their own,  _ literally hands-on _ investigation.

"Good. Now both of you are dismissed."

*

Flashlight was waiting just outside Sabrina's office and he almost jumped at Amelie when they left it; freshy evolved, he still lacked some of the ninetales’ grace and his anxious movements reminded Noire of their eevee. Noire longed to be home and able to hug Petit and bury their face in her fur…

Just like Amelie did now with Flashlight. Only… it wasn't like Amelie to act like this just outside Sabrina's office. It wasn't like Amelie to curl like that on herself. Just a couple of hours earlier Amelie went through the Flare building like a warrior queen… now she looked small and vulnerable.

"Amelie, you should go back to medical…" The examination showed no internal damage and no ribs broken but the bruising was pretty bad and that was not counting other small injuries. Medical didn't really give green light on her leaving, it was more of a yellow, insisting it would be better if she stayed for observation, and probably if the Chief Medical Officer wasn't busy with other injured he'd change it to red.

"No." Amelie didn't lift her head and the voice was barely audible. In fact Noire would have thought they imagined it if not for the fact they were the witness of how insistent Amelie was on leaving the medical. Noire heard Amelie breathe out, breathe in again and then Amelie raised her head. "I’m fine." It didn’t sound very convincing.

"Well, let's at least get home," Noire said lamely and helped Amelie to her feet. They walked through the corridors in silence, Flashlight and Ember glaring challengingly at any Rocket employee they've passed. Noire realised they kept doing the same.

"Fuck this, I'm used to being vigilant out in the streets but this is bullshit; I feel like anyone can start shooting at us again." Noire kicked one of the trash cans at the entrance of the living quarters building; the can fell over loudly, spilling cigarette butts and empty coffee cups.

"Maybe you should go to Blanche's."

Noire turned and stared at Amelie. She should know better than make that kind of suggestion.

"Amelie, what the fuck. You're suggesting that I go to an  _ enemy  _ to feel  _ safer _ ?"

"Better a known enemy than friends you don't know you can trust."

"Amelie, I can trust  _ you _ ."

"Can you? Can you trust anyone here right now?"

"Amelie, you're being weird…"

Noire remembered how they hovered round the door evesdropping on Amelie's examination. They remembered how the medic told them to get Amelie to bed before the meds really start working. Noire remembered the meds Amelie was given. It was the same thing Noire got after Spark threw them through the window.

Noire remembered how high they got less than a couple of hours after that.

"Amelie, you really should go back to medical" 

"No, we really should be away from Rocket for now."

"Amelie, we  _ live  _ on Rocket grounds."

"Yes, we do…"

Well, that wasn't a good sign. Amelie should have looked offended at Noire's comment and presented a seemingly obvious but brilliant solution; she shouldn't have looked troubled and uncertain.

Nor should she look like she'd fall asleep standing.

"Well, let's start with getting to my place" Noire said, trying to sound more confident than they felt.

*

Noire dug through the deepest recesses of their closet to find some clothes that wouldn't get them instantly recognised. It was obvious by now that Amelie, who Noire left on their own couch, was getting pretty high. It was a mostly mellow, sleepy kind of high but it also resulted in Amelie admitting, no,  _ insisting  _ she couldn't guarantee their safety on the grounds and didn't want to be there herself right now. Which sentiment Noire, remembering how easily they had managed to get their hands on copy of the keycard to Amelie's apartment, pretty much shared. Noire wasn't afraid for their own safety, they could fend pretty well for themselves but in that state Amelie very much couldn't. Noire needed to get her somewhere safe.

This whole situation was wrong. It was Amelie who was the responsible one, so Noire didn't have to be - this was how their relationship worked. Now that the roles got reversed it was the first time in years someone who wasn't a pokemon depended on Noire in that helpless kind of way. Noire swallowed, trying to push deeper into their minds the mind the memory of younger Blanche, which kept popping up along the pangs of post corruption pain. They haven't used enough of the power to severely hurt themselves and they didn't want Amelie to notice anything was wrong at all.

Just as they used to hide it from Blanche.

Fuck.

They remembered Amelie's words and laughed bitterly - it wasn’t like they could ask Blanche for help now. Nor could they ask the Valor bitch. They could go to a hotel or use one of the safe houses - but either of those still left a trace someone with Rocket insider info could follow. That was the problem - not knowing who the mole that let the fifth slip into their rank was meant Noire couldn't guess how much other info they had.

And Noire didn’t have non-Rocket friends.

And as far as known enemies they could consider trustworthy went there weren't many more options…

Apart from one.

Noire slammed the closet door shut and leaned on it heavily.

"Oh, fuck this shit!"

*

Spark adjusted the microscope to get a better picture of the anomalies on the egg's shell. He had seen this kind of anomaly before but didn't have the access to the pokemon that hatched from the egg; this time it was one of Instinct's own, so he would be able to monitor its health and development. Spark grabbed a pen to take notes of the unusual structure and felt a pang of pain in his forearm; he dropped the pen onto the table, shook his hand a bit and started massaging the offending muscle. Go had tracked him down when Spark was having a brunch with Blanche and Candela, and made Spark do overdue paperwork for six hours straight. What Spark got out of it was a muscle cramp in his arm, a cute picture of Blanche - Spark suspected where Go got all those pictures but choose not to pursue the topic, not to have this source dry out - and a guarantee Go would leave him alone for the rest of the…

"Spark?"

Or not. 

"Spark, executive Noire is here…"

"What, at this time? I was planning to go home soon, I'm so not in the mood for a fight." Spark raised his head and realised Go's expression wasn't the "we're being attacked" kind of distressed.

"No, it's uh, I'm not sure what. Please come?" 

Go saying "please" in that kind of polite pleading, unsure way was such a peculiar occurrence that Spark instantly got up from his workstation and followed Go to his own office.

He was greeted by a small but beautiful ninetales, which he instantly recognised as evolved Flashlight. The two people on his couch - which he kept mostly for pokemon to lounge on - weren't as easily recognisable. Noire wasn't wearing their executive Rocket uniform - or any Rocket branded clothes or any clothes Spark recognised. Rather than that they were wearing a blue hoodie, which had a tad too short sleeves and seemed just a bit too tight. Noire's signature silvery hair was all tucked under the hood, their expression anxious and subdued. Spark would have believed it was Blanche sitting right there if not for the fact that there was an eevee perched on the back of the couch and Amelie dozed off on Noire's shoulder. Amelie was wearing a short skirt as usual but had Noire's leather jacket thrown on. Spark noted a faint smell of ash and cinder coming off them and wondered if it had anything to do with the huge fire earlier in the day - he knew that one couldn't have been Candela's doing, as she was with him at the time. He took note of the dressing on Noire's chin and the scrapes and bruises on Amelie's legs; he wondered how much more was hidden by long pants and long sleeves.

"Hey Noire, finally got thrown out of Rocket?" Spark beamed at Noire.

"What the fuck asswipe, why would I be thrown out?" Well, it seemed that whatever the situation was it wasn't enough to stop Noire from acting indignant.

"Then what, running away from home?" Spark indicated with his leg the duffel bag lying next to the couch.

"Not running away, just… laying low for a bit." Spark was expecting Noire to pout but they only bit their lips and looked down at Flashlight, who was brushing against Spark's legs.

"Noire,  _ what did you do _ !?"

"I didn't do anything! It's…" Noire's forehead wrinkled, their hands curling into fists.

"What's wrong with Amelie?" Go finally spoke up, his voice strained and face pale. He was standing near the couch and looking at Amelie, probably trying to decide if it's appropriate to touch her and check on her, bless his innocent heart. "Does she need a doctor?'

"No, she's been checked, she's…" Noire sighed and put their arm around Amelie, uncharacteristically gently. Spark didn't think Noire could be this gentle toward anyone who wasn't a small fluffy pokemon. "She was given really strong meds."

Amelie stirred under Noire's touch, opened her eye and looked blearily around. She smiled faintly when she saw Go and tensed visibly when her eyes met Spark's.

"Noire, when I said "trusted enemy" I didn't mean you should go to the most dangerous of them." Spark felt Zapdos raise in him at Amelie's words and couldn't help but grin.

'Are you afraid of me?" they asked.

"I would be stupid not to, wouldn't I? Then again you're nice to pokemon, so at least Flashlight is safe." Amelie's voice sounded dreamy. "Then again, he can fend for himself pretty well; I wonder if it's because you were the one to raise him as a kit. Or because he's spend too much time with Noire. Little fluffy murder machine," the last sentence was uttered with a gentle fondness.

Spark stared. Go stared too. Amelie was usually bright, sharp and precise as a surgical knife. Even drunk Amelie was composed and capable of stopping Noire from whatever havoc they were wreaking and bringing them back on the right track. This was Amelie they didn't know - soft, vulnerable and oh, so tiny, curled at Noire's side.

"Is someone after you?"

"Oh, whenever someone is  _ not  _ after Noire? It's a life of neverending excitement!" Amelie lay her head on Noire's shoulder, hair falling over her face.

"Is someone after you  _ more than usual _ ?"

"Not anymore I guess. They're all dead I think… I hope…" Amelie dozed off again. 

Go swallowed audibly.

"Strong meds…"

"It's OK, I know what it was, even if it's..  _ off-the-market _ . I got the same thing after that first fight with Spark. She will be fine after she sleeps it off, she just needs a safe place till then."

"Why didn't you call?" The reproach in Spark's voice made Noire look away from Amelie's face and back at him. "I could have been away."

"I'd have broken in." Of course they would. Probably had the lock-picks ready. Or maybe they would have just broken down the door. "I didn't want the call to be in the logs. I turned both our phones off anyway, and removed the batteries."

"That might stop anyone from tracing you by phone but I saw you came here by taxi." Even visibly shaken, Go was still quick on the uptake. Spark approved.

_ "Obviously  _ we changed taxis. Twice. While changing clothes. And paid cash."

Well, that was thorough enough.

"Noire I never put you down as someone who runs away instead of standing up for the challenge." Spark wondered if Noire would pick up on the pun. 

"Listen asshole, they can come after me, I'll take them on. But this time they also targeted Amelie and I want her to recuperate in peace. Somewhere where no one can find her."

"Well, you can't stay here."

"Spark, please…" Something stirred in Spark at Noire's begging tone, but working with Blanche taught him well enough to resist random spikes of his libido when he judged it unwelcome. Even if he rarely did.

"Give me five minutes, I need to change.” Spark took off his headband and ruffed his hair back into his normal hairstyle. “You're lucky my van is in the garage, we should all fit right in.'

*

Noire wanted to carry Amelie out, but Spark picked her up before Noire could and with such an ease as if he was carrying an Eevee. Go wanted to accompany them, throwing worried glances at Amelie, but he skittered away when Noire scowled at them.

Spark was being so gentle and caring Noire almost forgot how he punched them through the wall.

Almost.

But it did make them relax slightly.

*

Noire slumped on SpArk’s couch. Amelie was tucked in safely into Spark's bed, sleeping soundly now, Flashlight curled at her side. On one hand Noire felt they should stay vigilant and look after Amelie, on the other Spark had been so nice and accommodating it kept making Noire let their guard down. The fact that both Flashlight and Petit seemed to love him didn't help. The annoyance that Petit ditched them in favor of snuggling Spark's Jolteon did help. The warm tea Spark offered them also didn't. Noire drank a few sips and put it away on the table, because it made them want to curl up and doze off and sleep away the pain that kept relentlessly bothering them now. Noire kept fingering the string of their hoodie to keep focus.

"Hey, Noire" Spark said in that inexplicably friendly voice. “That hoodie seems to small for you; is it Amelie's? You can borrow mine if you want."

"No, it's OK. That hoodie used to be Blan… I used to wear it as a teen."

"Uhm."

Noire scowled at Spark's raised eyebrow and put their hands around their arms, enjoying the feeling of the soft material under their fingertips. Wearing Blanche’s old hoodie was the closest they could come to being close to, to hugging Blanche and they needed it so much right now it made them want to scream.

Yes, Noire was the stronger one, but whatever Cipher had taught them Blanche was not weak and Noire had relied on them, if in a different way than their twin did. Blanche's actual weakness was the same as Noire's own was now: revelling in the fact someone deeply caring for you so much that you come to depend on them, that losing it feels like you've suddenly been deprived of air.

It must have been what Blanche felt when Noire cut them off and Noire did not appreciate the reminder right now, not with how shitty they felt.

"Noire?" Spark's voice yanked them out of their reverie.

"What?" They asked aggressively.

"Should you be having a nosebleed like that?"

"What? Shit…" With the back of their hand Noire rubbed the blood of their upper lip. "It's nothing. I'm fine."

"Are you though? You seem pretty pale and your heartbeat has been a bit irregular."

"My what?" Noire looked, appalled, into Spark's honest eyes; who did he think he was? "I'm perfectly fine" they got up to prove it "You don't have to...uh?"

Everything went dark.

*

A prickling sensation in their arm brought back memories of imprisonment, experiments and pain. Through the darkness Noire felt a tinge of panic and they wanted to struggle, break for it and rush to break out Blanche…

"It's OK, you're safe, this is not Cipher." The voice was calm, low, reassuring and... familiar, just as was the pressure pinning their arms down with incredible weight.

Noire opened their eyes to see the dark, serious face of Syric, Rocket's Chief Medical Officer and stopped struggling.. Syric sighed deeply and let go of Noire's arms. He had become very adept at preventing Noire from tearing out the intravenous drip.

"Can you explain to me which part of 'You may go report to Executive Sabrina but come back immediately for observation' was unclear to you?" Syric didn't sound angry, just tired.

Noire looked around: they were still on Spark's couch, although the intravenous drip stand and Syric's medical bad were definitely new additions.

As was Syric.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Me? What the fuck are  _ you _ doing here?”

"It wasn't safe in Rocket, so we left."

Syric put his hand over his face and rubbed his eyes with his fingertips.

"You never thought that I could have hidden you? That it would be better if the one doctor who has any idea how to treat you knew where you are?!"

'Well, you're here aren't you?'

Syric waved his hand impatiently.

"And good that I am. Why did you hide the fact you have used your abilities?"

"Because you would have put me under observation if I didn't."

Syric rolled his eyes and Noire couldn't help a small chuckle.

"How is Amelie doing?"

"Amelie is doing fine, which can be considered a miracle given she was being taken care of by two children. Thankfully one of them is responsible enough to call an actual adult." Syric made a I-am-definitely-not-paid-enough-for-this face and sighed deeply again.

Then he smiled.

"That child also made a mean stir-fry, so if you're hungry I can bring you some."

  
  


Amelie was in the kitchen, eating Spark's surprisingly good cooking; when she woke up after the drug-induced sleep she was feeling ravenous. Ember was napping in Spark's bedroom, but Flashlight's appetite was still heightened and he was accompanying her in the kitchen, presently devouring poffins from Spark,'s hand.

"Isn't that too many?" Amelie asked, counting ninth poffin already.

"Those are baby poffins, so even for XS Ninetales nine is perfectly fine. Twelve, taking into account he just evolved and apparently worked hard right after."

Amelie ignored the last part, knowing Spark was fishing for information.

"Incapable of evolving; that's what all the specialists said." She surveyed Spark with her one eye.

"Have you ever consulted with Mystic? Because that's where the best evolution specialists in the region are, and Blanche has done some amazing breakthroughs…"

"You are aware I can't just walk into Team Mystic headquarters and start asking questions? Besides, this is not what I'm talking about. How did  _ you  _ know?"

Spark grinned.

"Instinct, remember?"

“That’s not an answer.”

Spark grinned, showing just a little too much teeth and Amelie wondered that maybe it actually was.

*

"Are you sure you want to keep them here?" Syric was petting Donglord goodbye, about to leave Spark's apartment.

"Sure! It's the weekend, I have my incubators with me, what's the worst that can happen?"

Syric made an expression suggesting that he knows quite a few scenarios which can and have happened, and choosing the worst might be a matter of perspective.

"I'd tell you to call me if anything happens again, but now that Amelie is up and about I know she will keep me posted. Just… don't go crazy, ok?"

"I can't promise anything." They both knew Spark  _ really couldn't _ but it was also implied that he will try. "Say hi to Flerf for me."

When Spark came back to his bedroom Noire was still hugging Amelie tightly. He pretty much learned from Syric what had happened and he completely understood Noire's feelings. He also approved of leaving nothing but ash and rubble where Flare building used to be. He'd do the same if they tried to kill Go.

His eyes fell on Flashlight and he thought both Amelie and Noire deserved a treat. He had a special stash in the freezer that he bought in case Moltres-Candela was visiting and it could be of use since Noire had a sweet tooth.

"Hey guys, do you want some ice-cream? I have some from a new place and they're Jolteon and Flareon flavored... Wait, Noire, why are you crying?! I promise, they're not made of actual eeveelutions….!"

**Author's Note:**

> There is some editing/cleanup to be done in a couple of days - I need to be back at my desktop because editing on mobile leads to different rather than fewer errors.


End file.
